A Chronological Overview of U.M.T.A. 1955-2008
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A Chronological Overview Of U.M.T.A. 1955-2008 taken from Utah Music Teachers Association Through the Years, 50 year history compiled for UMTA’s 50th Anniversary,by Coila Robinson and Lezlee Bishop, published 2006. All musical people seem to be happy; it is to them the engrossing pursuit, almost the only innocent and unpunished passion. – Sydney Smith, (Southwest Division/UMTA Convention, February, 5-7, 1982 program The first invitation sent to several hundred music teachers on the Wasatch Front; original size: 4 ¾ x 3 7/8 inches. 1955 – 1957 UMTA President: J. Ellwood Jepson The first president of Utah MTA is elected in a formal organizational meeting October 16, 1955, in Salt Lake City. Other officers are Jessie M. Perry, Vice President; Alta Garner, Secretary; and Grace N. Wright, Treasurer. After adopting a sample constitution, 2 Executive Committee members are added: Beverly S. Pond, and Grace Whipple. During that first year, dinner meetings with programs and discussions are held. UMTA becomes affiliated with MTNA, Music Teachers National Association in the Spring of 1956, with 41 members. The Utah Music Teachers Association holds its first convention that same year, in conjunction with the Utah Educators Association (UEA), held at Horace Mann Junior High Auditorium, with presentations by Wm C. Hogenson, Ralph Laycock, J. Spencer Cornwall, Mary Sanks, and J. Elwood Jepson. Helen Rabe, Ogden Chapter, writes in 2005: “J. Elwood Jeppson was one of the founding members of UMTA and was also my Elementary and Junior High School music teacher. He held fund-raisers and personally contributed money to buy instruments for the music program and Plymouth Elementary School. We had music instruction beginning in the third grade that continued until the ninth grade. The orchestra included all the instruments. I learned the cello in the third grade. Mr. Jeppson had a mal-formed back perhaps from a disease of some kind and had to wear a back brace to function. You might consider him a cripple. That did not stop his piano playing nor his attention to the music program of the school. He promoted the music program big-time and many, many, students benefited from his dedication. The training I received has lead to a life-long commitment to music.” 1957 – 1961 UMTA President: Jessie M. Perry Jessie M. Perry becomes president of UMTA, due to Mr. Jepson’s poor health. Annual dues for active teachers in the association are $7.00; student teacher’s dues are $3.00. Other officers include Grace N. Wright, Vice President; Nellie K DeVroom, Secretary; and James Pingree, Treasurer. Salt Lake Chapter organizes in January of 1957, and covers the state. The 1957 state convention is held at the University of Utah, with 73 members statewide, and the one day convention is free of charge. The first joint-teacher chapter recital is held at Clark Music Company Recital Hall on First South in Salt Lake City. In 1958 President Perry urges teachers to form local chapters in their own areas. National conventions are held regionally and occur every other year, the Western Division Convention of MTNA is held in Missoula, Montana, in July, 1958. No state convention is held in 1958. The 1959 state convention is held for one day in September at the University of Utah with Dr. Helen Folland as the main piano workshop presenter. More “teacher clubs” form in the Salt Lake City and Davis areas, as well as Logan, Alpine, Ogden, and Tooele. State membership is up to 60 members. The 3rd annual Piano workshop and 1961 convention featuring Mr. Fredric Dixon, Gladys Gladstone Rosenberg, and Dr. Oscar Wagner, is held in the University of Utah music hall. Student-affiliate chapters are formed for students in school and who are engaged in teaching. Membership fees raises to $12.00 in 1961, $6 for national, $3 for state, and $1 for chapters, as well as a $2 recital fee in some chapters. 1962 – 1964 UMTA President: Alpha H. Bolton Alpha Bolton is instrumental in welcoming and hosting the 6th biennial MTNA Western Division Convention held in Salt Lake City, in July of 1962 at the University of Utah. The Utah County chapter (later called Provo-Orem) organized earlier that year in the spring. In the Salt Lake area, the local chapter sponsors a panel discussion to educate parents of all music students on how to help their children get a good music education. This session is advertised, and open to the general public. The first Certification examinations, including oral, written, and performance work, are held by the UMTA certification board at the University of Utah in July of 1963. State convention is held in August, 1963, with Leonard Posner and William S. Newman conducting master classes and lecture demonstrations on the violin, chamber music, and piano, assisted by Gladys Gladstone. This is the first year that music business exhibits at convention are mentioned. An August 8, 1963, newspaper article states that Americans own more than 38 million instruments and have an interest in music making that supports 48,000 school bands, 15,000 school orchestras, 6.000 high school stage bands, 1,200 community bands and orchestras, 1,600 industrial music groups, as well as countless neighborhood combos. 1964 – 1968 UMTA President: Beulah B. Ford As a new president of UMTA, Beulah Ford has a total of 19 member-teachers who were state-certified by April of 1964, with 7 more by December of that same year. State MTNA auditions are held in June for both high school piano and strings, with one winner to be selected in each area. Performance requirements include a baroque or classical selection, a required romantic concerto movement, and on contemporary American composition, as well as passing a theory and sight reading test. The Western division convention of MTNA is held in Moscow, Idaho. Alpha Bolton and President Beulah Ford conduct a 6- week course in Piano Pedagogy and Teaching Materials for interested teachers. President Ford and others implement the Student Achievement testing program (revised in early 1990’s to AIM), with 150 students of accredited teachers completing their testing in the spring of 1965. President Ford suggests the testing program as a means of promoting continual study and regular attendance at lessons through a definite period of time, as well as to encourage the student to maintain a steady and conscientious standard of effort. MTNA National convention is held in Dallas, Texas, in April of 1965. A July, 1965, State convention features Robert Dumm, Newell Weight, and William Foxley as presenters, as well as the first printing of a state roster and convention program booklet. Business advertisers in the booklet included: Beesley Music, Ingles Bountiful Music, Piano Technicians Guild, Harris Piano Shop and Music Center, Murray Music Company, Hart Brothers’ Music, Music City and Ralph M. Barrus Pianos. A Life membership in MTNA is available for $100.00 and new chapters are formed in Sanpete and Southern Utah County. Baldwin Keyboard Auditions are begun for Junior High school age (7, 8, 9 grades) performers in each division of MTNA. 1966 – 1970 UMTA President: Lucille B. Swenson President Swenson oversees the formation of several “Cadet-Teacher” (Student) chapters organizing in Bountiful and Salt Lake City. In April of 1966, a Haydn Mozart and Beethoven Festival is sponsored by UMTA at BYU, with 45 high school and college student performances of the Masters, as well as lectures on musical style and composers. More UMTA State Accredited Teacher Exams are held, with written examinations in the morning, with performance, oral, and student demonstrations in the afternoon. At the time of the July, 1967, UMTA State Convention there are 7 chapters in the state, with 150 teacher members and 100 student members. Adele Marcus, Betty Jeanne Chipman and Percy Kalt are guest artists and lecturers. There are 39 accredited teachers statewide at this time. A copy of the UMTA/MTNA Constitution and Bylaws-Code of Ethics is given to each member, and the MTNA Auditions (competitions) are to be held every other year and open to high school and college level vocalists as well as pianists and string players. In May of 1968, a combination Workshop, Business Meeting and Banquet with Fern Nolte Davidson, of Idaho, is held at the Hotel Utah for two days. A Luncheon is held for state and chapter officers, and an evening awards banquet includes honoring newly certified and re-certified teachers, as well as a Teacher of the Year. State Conventions become an annual event in Utah as of this year. Lucille would prepare and present a concert of her own performance. Some chapters start their own newsletters to disseminate information on upcoming meetings while auditions are held in each chapter throughout the state to select students for the junior/high school/college division concerts to be held during state convention in May, with 8 minutes allowed per chapter. The 1969 UMTA state convention is held in conjunction with the Utah String Teachers Association (ASTA) at the Hotel Utah; the convention theme is “Music Uplifts, Stimulates, and Inspires” with an address by Celia Mae Bryant, first woman president of MTNA, and sessions by Reginald Stewart, pianist and guest artist. Other presenters include Irving Wassermann, who plays during one of the general sessions; J. J. Keeler on organ, and string instrumentalists Audrey Bush, David Freed, and Warren Burton. Eight chapter presidents give reports at convention representing Box Elder, Logan, Ogden, Salt Lake, Sanpete, South Davis, Timpanogos, and Utah chapters. Four different classifications of Certified Teacher are in use, with most of the UMTA-certified teachers having certified nationally as well. State Officers include: Alta Blood, Vice President; Margene Knowlton, Secretary; Alpha Bolton, Treasurer; other board members are Beulah Ford, Ruth Mitchell, Grace Mitchell, William Foxley, Janet H.